Port Richey eyesore coming down

Port Richey, Florida -- It was just a few weeks ago whenJason Ferguson feared letting his children out their own front door,where looters were stripping the metal fromnearby dilapidated trailers and the homeless sought shelter.

"It's been very uncomfortable," said Ferguson from his front porch. "We're only 100 feet from it, so it's been very scary for us."

On Wednesday afternoon, he pointed outthe big tractors across the street to his 16-month-old son Hunter. The loud noises of houses crashing down from the power of the tractors delighted the toddler.

"To us, it's a good sound," said Ferguson.

Demolition began last week on the Port Richey Mobile Home Park that once upon a time was a pretty nice place to live... a half century ago. Over the last few years, the property and its 75 trailers fell into disrepair and foreclosure.

"It was obviously a visual nightmare," said Port Richey City Manager, Tom O'Neill.

O'Neill says there were big hopes for the 5-acre waterfront property in 2005 when developers had plans to transform it into an attraction, with a hotel and commercial property. But, just as the housing market crashed, so did the developer's plans.

Now, it's the trailers that are crashing down.

"We certainly hope as a city this action encourages development of this property into a nice commercial piece of property that is a benefit for everyone," said O'Neill.

There are no prospects yet, but O'Neillknows what he'd like to see.

"I can imagine an upscale hotel perhaps here, a commercial center within walking distance of the city's waterfront, restaurants, entertainment and so forth," explained O'Neill.

Ferguson wouldn't mind seeing something like that so close to home, "We're just glad to see more improvement now finally."

The demolition is expected to be complete by October 15th. O'Neill says the bank that foreclosed on the property is picking up the tab for the demo, which runs more than $55,000.